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Indian Designer Finds Sustainable Way to High Fashion

An Indian designer is repurposing unused pieces of cloth that factories throw out. Kriti Tula pieces together clothing for men and women as a sustainable choice for high-end clothes.

The New Delhi-based designer's high-end clothing company is called Doodlage. She and her workers collect unwanted fabric¹ from factories that is rejected for minor² problems. They then piece together the fabric to create clothes like dresses and sarees, which is a traditional form of Indian dress. They sell for about $100 a piece.

Her company also includes clothing for men. It has shirts that are made from small pieces of different fabrics³ that are put together to create one piece. One of the fabrics used on these shirts is denim⁴.

Tula said the company was started out of her concern for climate change and the fashion industry's effects on the environment.

Tula has worked at large clothing export businesses. She said she saw at those businesses the environmental cost of high fashion. She saw the waste of cloth and water, and the harmful chemicals that are used in the production process.

Tula told Reuters that everything we wear at some point "... impacts everything that we eat and consume and we breathe."

The world's $2.4 trillion fashion industry is responsible for 8 to 10 percent of the world's greenhouse gas production. The United Nations Environment Program said in 2019 that this is more than all international flights and sea shipping⁵ combined.

It added that the industry is also the second-biggest user of water. It produces 20 percent of all the world's used water.

Tula said finding the cloth that factories throw out was difficult at first. She added that the product prices had to be higher than what many buyers may have felt they should be paying for re-used clothes.

However, she said that her business slowly found sellers and partners who liked her environmental concerns.

Her company also makes soft playthings for children, paper made from leftover⁶ fabric, and pieces that carry objects like bags and purses.

Words in This Story

sustainable – adj. involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources

fabric – n. woven or knitted material: cloth

denim – n. a strong usually blue cotton cloth that is used especially to make jeans

fashion – n. the business of creating and selling clothes in new styles

impact – v. to have a strong and often bad effect on (something or someone): affect

consume – v. to eat or drink (something)

1 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 fabrics   

织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地

参考例句：

• cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
• The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。

4 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。